Isaiah 43:19

A
B
C

"Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19 (NKJV)

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)

"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."

Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)

"Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring up; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

"Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

"Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

"Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands."

Isaiah 43:19 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

The New Thing Is Creation, Not Renovation

The new thing is not improvement. It is creation. God does not renovate the old situation. He makes a road where there was no road, rivers where there was no water. The wilderness and the desert are not problems for God. They are the raw material He works with. In the New Covenant, 2 Corinthians 5:17 is this verse applied: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. The new thing God promised in Isaiah 43:19 arrived in Christ. And it is still the character of God to make roads in your wilderness and rivers in your desert.

The Places That Look Most Impossible

A road in a wilderness is impossible by definition. Wilderness means trackless, no existing path. Rivers in the desert are impossible by definition. Desert means dry, no existing source. God chooses specifically those two images. The places that look most impossible to you are exactly where He does His most visible work. The new thing He does is not in the easy places where resources already exist. It springs up in the wilderness. It flows in the desert. This is His signature.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." The new thing of Isaiah 43:19 has a name in the New Covenant: Christ. He is the road in the wilderness. He is the river in the desert. John 14:6: I am the way. John 7:38: rivers of living water shall flow from within you. Isaiah's prophecy finds its fullest meaning in the person and work of Jesus.

Application for Your Life

Shall You Not Know It?

God asks a pointed question in this verse: shall you not know it? The new thing is already springing forth. The question is whether you are paying attention. In the New Covenant, the new thing has already come in Christ. The question He asks you is the same: do you perceive it? Do you see what has already begun? Expectancy is not passive waiting. It is active attention to what God is already doing.

Your Wilderness Is His Worksite

The places in your life that feel most like wilderness, where there is no obvious path, no visible resource, no clear way forward, are precisely where God builds roads. This is not metaphor for inspiration. It is the stated pattern of how God works. He makes a way in the wilderness. If you are in a wilderness situation, you are in the exact kind of place where He has historically and characteristically done His most impossible work.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I receive Your word today: You are doing a new thing. I confess I have looked at the wilderness in my life and seen only the absence of a path. But You make roads where there are none. You make rivers where there is only dry ground. I choose to perceive what You are already doing. I choose to see the new thing springing forth. In Jesus' name. Amen.